The coffee giant Starbucks says it won’t immediately comply with the ban on large sugary drinks set to go in effect next week in New York City, citing ongoing legal attempts to overturn the regulation and the company’s belief that most of its products are not subject to the ban.

The coffee chain’s announcement comes amid criticism from restaurants, bars, movie theaters, bodegas and others subject to the law. City officials haven’t fully explained how the regulation, set to go into effect March 12, will be enforced.

“We believe that the majority of our products fall outside of the ban given the ability of our customers to customize their beverage,” Starbucks said in a statement to Yahoo News. “As there is still ongoing litigation regarding the regulation, we’re not making any immediate changes at this time. We are evaluating which changes we may need to make to our recipes and product offerings and will be using this three-month evaluation period to make the appropriate changes for our customers and to fully comply with the new beverage restrictions.”

Championed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg as a way to fight the city's growing obesity epidemic, the new regulation limits the sale of sugary beverages including nondiet sodas, fruit drinks, sweetened teas and other high-calorie drinks to just 16 ounces. The ban does not cover drinks that are more than 50 percent milk—a rule Starbucks believes exempts its popular Frappuccino drink, which has been criticized by health advocates for its high sugar content.

And the companies serving it will NEVER shut up as they make far more profit from the larger drinks than the smaller ones. You cannot trust them a millimeter when it comes to "looking after consumer interests".

If they want to do good by banning something, ban High Fructose Corn Syrup. Nip the problem in the bud, directly at the source, and force the manufacturers to use less damaging alternatives. It'll do wonders for food/drink flavours, too.

This article does seem a little over-dramatised, basically what Starbucks have said is that they're going to wait until they know what the new law explicitly covers and get some statistics and figures, then they'll compare these to their current beverage offering and adjust it as necessary.

The most likely effect is the standard beverages will remain the same, but there will be a limit of additions you can have, I know that the till can support 16 shots of espresso in a drink, doesn't mean that you'll get served it though.

OK --- I challenge you to consume nothing but some sugary drink for a week -- all you want.

Tell me how much you 'gained'. Odds are you'll lose weight.

I don't drink that mess at all--certainly not in excess. Everything in moderation Eating only fat will not make you any more or less fat than doing that. Malnourishment would still be the same concern But I bet you'd gain more/lose less weight on the fat than the sugar.